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No. 613,502. Pa tented Nov. I, i898. w. A. DROMGOLD.

HITCH IRON FOB HARBOWS.

(Application filed May 11, 1898.

(No Model.) H 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 6l3,502. I Patented Nov. I, I898.

' W. A. DBOMGULD. Z

HITCH IRON FUR HARRUWS. (Application filed-May 11, 1898.

' 2 Sheets-shat 2.

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALKER A. DROMGOLD, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

HITCH-IRON FOR HARROWS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 613,502, dated November 1, 1898.

Application filed May 11, 1898. Serial No- 680,4=10. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Beitknown that I, WALKER A. DROMGOLD, of the city of York, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hitch-Irons for Harrows, of which the following is a specification.

By hitch-iron is intended the device or iron on the front part of the harrow to which the evener is hooked. v

The invention is directed to the production of an interchangeable and reversible hitchiron adapted to be used with harrows of varying sizes and to be readily applied to existing kinds of harrows, particularly "wood frame harrows.

The improvements will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and will then be more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In said drawings, Figure l is a view of the front portion of a sectional wood-frame harrow of well-known type provided with the improvements. Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan of the hitch-iron and that part of the harrow to which it is applied, the spring harrow-tooth being broken 015? to expose to View the hitchiron. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section on line 44, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view of the hitch-iron properdetached. Fig. 6 is a view of the holder detached, bottom side up.

The harrow is of thespring-tooth type. It is a wood-frame harrow,'the beam comprising the frame being shown at A, and it is a sectional or hinged harrow, the two sections of which it is composed being hinged or j ointed together at a; in a manner well known to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.

The hitch-iron proper is lettered B. The holder therefor is lettered O.

In the front edge of thehitch-iron is a series of holes I) in the same horizontal plane and extending fan-like in a row along the front of the hitch-iron from side to side of the latter, the hole at one end of the row being in a part b of the iron which protrudes laterally beyond the side of the iron. The shank of the iron in rear of these holes will be more particularly described hereinafter. It is suflicient now to say that it is adapted to engage the holder 0 and to be thereby de tachably secured to the harrow-frame.

The hitch-iron is practically the same on both faces, and with either face up it is adapted to engage the holder. It can be applied to either side of the harrow or to either section of the harrow when the latter, as in the harrow shown in the drawings, is composed of sections hinged together, and it can also be reversed at will, so as to bring either one of its faces uppermost. It is thus both interchangeable and reversible.

The evener can be hooked into any of the holes in the hitch-iron, according to the size of the harrow. The iron shown in the draw ings is adapted for use with any size of harrow from, say, fourteen to twenty-four teeth, or even more. When it is used with a harrow having, say, from fourteen to eighteen teeth, it is placed thereon so that its projecting portion 19' will be nearest the center of the harrow. On a larger harrow-say one of twenty or twenty-two teethit should be reversed, so as to bring its projecting portion 1) on theoutside or farthest removed from the center of the harrow.

The series of holes are for the purpose of providing a changeable hitch for the harrow, a thin g which is quite necessary, particularly in a spring-tooth harrow, for the reason that in using the harrow on hard ground the harrow-sections tend much more than at other times to rise in the center, which tendency can be overcome by hitching out one or more holes farther on each side of the harrow. Without a changeable hitch it is diffi cult to prevent the harrow from rising in the center unless additional weight be placed upon the center of the harrow. The necessity for this additional weight is obviated by the use of the changeable hitch.

The position which the hitch-iron should oc= cupy on a spring-tooth harrow is one in which its row of holes is about directly in front of one of the teeth on the front beam of the harrow. For this reason I form the shank of the hitch-iron with an opening b of such shape and dimensions as to permit the tooth to pass readily therethrough. Thus the row of hitch= holes is directly in front of the tooth, while the shank of the iron, as it extends back to the point where it is secured to the harrow frame, straddles the tooth. The hitch-iron thus formed can have its shank secured to the frame of the harrow by any suitable means. In case, for example, the hitch-iron is to be rigid its shank can be formed to receive bolts, by which it may be attached to the frame, using, preferably, for this purpose the same bolts on by which the spring-tooth S is secured in place. I prefer, however, on some accounts to unite it with the harrow-frame by a hinge connection. To this end the shank .of the hitch-iron at its rear is provided with laterally-projecting lugs 11 which enter and are held in a socket 0, formed in the under side of the holder 0, which, like the hitchiron, is preferably a malleable casting. A passage 0' is formed in the front of the holder, through which the shank can project into the socket c. The socket c and the passage 0 are open on their under side and are closed at that point by the part of the harrow-frame to which the holder is secured. The hitch-iron is first applied to the holder with its lugs 11 seated in the socket c, and then the holder is placed upon and attached to one of the beams of the harrow-frame, in this way firmly securing the hitch-iron in place. It is desirable to have a hinge connection between the parts, so that the hitch-iron may adapt itself to the pull of the evener. To this end the lugs 12 are cylindrical or in the shape of trunnions, and the socket c is of corresponding shape, so that the trunnions may turn therein. The passage 0 is of suflicient dimensions to permit the up-and-down movement of the shank when the hitch-iron turns upon its hinge.

For the better working of the parts, as well as for durability, I provide a base or wearing plate d, which is seated in a recess 0 in the under face of the holder and bears from below upon the hinge portion of the hitch-iron. It will be observed that the holder is applied to and secured upon the top of the harrowframe. It is adapted to be thus secured to any of the wood-frame harrows now in the market.

Anysuitable means for securing the holder to the harrow-frame can be employed. In this instance it is held to the frame by the same bolts m by which the clamp n for the spring-tooth S is drawn up and secured in place.

Having described my improvements and the best way now known to me of carrying the same into effect, I desire it to be understood, in conclusion, that I do not restrict myself narrowly to the structural details hereinbefore set forth in illustration of my invention; but

WVhat I claim herein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows;

1. The combination of the harrow-frame, the interchangeable and reversible hitch-iron provided with a series of holes extending along the front and from side to side of the hitch-iron, and the holder whereby said hitchiron is detachably connected to the harrowframe, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination of the harrow-frame, the interchangeable and reversible hitch-iron provided with a series of holes extending along the front and from side to side of the hitch-iron, and the holder having a detachable hinge connection with the hitch-iron, and detachably secured to the harrow-frame, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination of the barrow-frame, the spring-tooth thereon, and the hitch-iron straddling the tooth and detachably secured to the harrow-frame, and provided in that portion of it which is in front of the tooth with a series of holes for attachment of the evener, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

4. The combination of the harrow-frame, the spring-tooth thereon, and the hitch-iron straddling the tooth, and detachablysecurcd to the harrow-frame by the same bolts which hold the spring-tooth in place, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination of the harrow-frame, the interchangeable and reversible hitch-iron provided with a series of holes extending along the front and from side to side of the hitch-iron, and the holder formed on its under face to receive and engage the shank of the hitch-iron, and detachably secured to the top of the harrow-frame, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

6. The combination of the harrow-frame, the holder detachably secured to said frame, and the interchangeable and reversible hitchiron, provided with trunnions seated and adapted to turn in a socket formed in the under face of the holder, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

7. The interchangeable and reversible hitch-iron formed with the holes I), and the trunnions or pivots b in combination with the barrow-frame, and the holder provided with sockets c, and passage 0, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

8. In combination with the harrow-frame and the spring-tooth thereon, the hitch-iron formed with the holes I), the opening I) and the trunnions or pivots b and the holder provided with socket c and passage 0', substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of May, 1808.

WALKER A. DROMGOLD.

Witnesses:

T. Enw. DROMGOLD, C. M. ENBELBERGER. 

